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Luigi Ontani the 69 year old Italian painter, sculptor and multifaceted artist who expresses himself through various artistic forms has been featured by Karen Wright for The Independent in an article titled ‘In The Studio: Luigi Ontani’. Wright states “…Ontani has only just moved into his studio near the Piazza del Popolo in Rome, but already it bears the mark of this inimitable artist, the doorbell highlighted by a tiny portrait of himself as Pinocchio. Called maestro by those who know and revere him, Ontani is an Italian treasure and is unmistakable, dressed today, as always, in a three-piece silk suit, this time the colour of spring greens. …The studio we are in belonged to Canova, the famous sculptor. Ontani recalls that he was walking in the area he now considers home and saw "affittasi" (for rent) in the window of the building. He got on the phone and the building was his by the end of the day. …"I don't like to separate my life from my art." The rooms are high and vaulted with wonderful light. He has painted the concrete floor mauve, his favorite colour, and one that recurs often in both his work and dress. He was – and is still – beautiful, and uses himself, as do so many contemporary artists, as the subject of his art. Many feature him posed as mythical characters, often nude. "My photographs are not documents, not simulacra, but are imaginary. There are others that are documenting, but not me." Shown in Paris and New York, most notably in The Kitchen in the early 1970s, his work clearly inspired the work of Cindy Sherman, among others. Otani distinguishes his art works from his performances saying, "I am naked, like a sculpture; there is no movement. It is not a document, it is a pose."  Inspired by Karen Wright, The Independent ow.ly/iuSoH Image source lanouvellevague ow.ly/iuR4H My photographs are not documents (March 30 2013)

 

Luigi Ontani the 69 year old Italian painter, sculptor and multifaceted artist who expresses himself through various artistic forms has been featured by Karen Wright for The Independent in an article titled ‘In The Studio: Luigi Ontani’. Wright states “…Ontani has only just moved into his studio near the Piazza del Popolo in Rome, but already it bears the mark of this inimitable artist, the doorbell highlighted by a tiny portrait of himself as Pinocchio. Called maestro by those who know and revere him, Ontani is an Italian treasure and is unmistakable, dressed today, as always, in a three-piece silk suit, this time the colour of spring greens. …The studio we are in belonged to Canova, the famous sculptor. Ontani recalls that he was walking in the area he now considers home and saw “affittasi” (for rent) in the window of the building. He got on the phone and the building was his by the end of the day. …”I don’t like to separate my life from my art.” The rooms are high and vaulted with wonderful light. He has painted the concrete floor mauve, his favorite colour, and one that recurs often in both his work and dress. He was – and is still – beautiful, and uses himself, as do so many contemporary artists, as the subject of his art. Many feature him posed as mythical characters, often nude. “My photographs are not documents, not simulacra, but are imaginary. There are others that are documenting, but not me.” Shown in Paris and New York, most notably in The Kitchen in the early 1970s, his work clearly inspired the work of Cindy Sherman, among others. Otani distinguishes his art works from his performances saying, “I am naked, like a sculpture; there is no movement. It is not a document, it is a pose.”

 

Inspired by Karen Wright, The Independent ow.ly/iuSoH Image source lanouvellevague ow.ly/iuR4H

Sterling Wells the 28 year old American artist painter and sculptor has been featured by Allison Meier in an article published on Blouin Artinfo titled ‘Artist Sterling Wells Creates Post-Natural Landscape Paintings’. Meier states “When looking at a painting, you lose yourself in an imagined world,” artist Sterling Wells told ARTINFO. Yet his work takes this idea a bit further than most artists, basing his detailed watercolor landscapes on miniature fabricated environments that he builds within his studio.  “The falseness connects them to painting, in that I’m inventing an artificial world within a frame, and to entertainment,” he elaborated. “Like watching a movie, going to a theme park, or looking at the dioramas at a natural history museum, I also want my art to be temporarily immersive and transporting.” …He loved working outside where he could become “attuned to the colors of the world, the way the light changes over the course of a day.” However, he became frustrated by the limitations of painting. “I initially wanted to make my own natural environments in order to control the light, and because I wanted to paint a purely natural landscape, but none was easily available,” he explained. “Painting from observation seemed too passive — I wanted to engage directly with the environment, and actively create new realities.” …he builds sculptural environments that he uses as models for his paintings, and also art on their own. He continues to work outside, painting en plein air in the middle of creeks or in the rain with a tarp over his head. Only now he also paints in a studio cluttered with rocks, paint, and warped car parts, where he tends to a small greenhouse and the often post-apocalyptic feeling of nature overtaking abandonment…”  Inspired by Allison Meier, Blouin Artinfo ow.ly/gXFTE Image source Facebook ow.ly/gXFSH Creates post-natural landscape paintings (February 1 2013)

Sterling Wells the 28 year old American artist painter and sculptor has been featured by Allison Meier in an article published on Blouin Artinfo titled ‘Artist Sterling Wells Creates Post-Natural Landscape Paintings’. Meier states “When looking at a painting, you lose yourself in an imagined world,” artist Sterling Wells told ARTINFO. Yet his work takes this idea a bit further than most artists, basing his detailed watercolor landscapes on miniature fabricated environments that he builds within his studio.  “The falseness connects them to painting, in that I’m inventing an artificial world within a frame, and to entertainment,” he elaborated. “Like watching a movie, going to a theme park, or looking at the dioramas at a natural history museum, I also want my art to be temporarily immersive and transporting.” …He loved working outside where he could become “attuned to the colors of the world, the way the light changes over the course of a day.” However, he became frustrated by the limitations of painting. “I initially wanted to make my own natural environments in order to control the light, and because I wanted to paint a purely natural landscape, but none was easily available,” he explained. “Painting from observation seemed too passive — I wanted to engage directly with the environment, and actively create new realities.” …he builds sculptural environments that he uses as models for his paintings, and also art on their own. He continues to work outside, painting en plein air in the middle of creeks or in the rain with a tarp over his head. Only now he also paints in a studio cluttered with rocks, paint, and warped car parts, where he tends to a small greenhouse and the often post-apocalyptic feeling of nature overtaking abandonment…”

 

Inspired by Allison Meier, Blouin Artinfo ow.ly/gXFTE Image source Facebook ow.ly/gXFSH

Kate Ruggeri the 24 year old American artist, curator, and DJ has been nominated by Blouin Artinfo as an emerging artist in an article titled ‘Painter-Sculptor Kate Ruggeri Finds Heroism in Humble Materials’ by Allison Meier. Meier states “Following a fire that wrecked her studio, Chicago-based artist Kate Ruggeri is persevering by creating work that evokes hope and heroes through the unlikely materials of old clothes, buckets of house paint, and twine. …she’s been experimenting with merging her interests in painting and sculpture into dimensional forms swathed with reclaimed fabric and discarded materials, and coated with thick layers of paint. The results have a scrappy, tactile quality, but also a quiet gravity. … “Joseph Campbell’s monomyth was my main inspiration, since I was little I’ve been interested in myths, adventure stories, and biographies. I don’t think it’s very difficult to identify with a hero at moments in your own life.” …One of Ruggeri’s sculptures, appropriately called “Hero,” strides like a DIY Giacometti, a paint-stained backpack on its shoulders and a walking stick pointing forward. “In the past few months, I have seen great heroics in my friends and community,” she explained. “My roommate had been mugged and shot walking home, and survived. There were a number of tragic deaths in the Chicago community. My studio building had burned down and I had lost all of my work.” … A painter at heart, she started using sculptural constructions as canvases because she was exhausted with looking at blank, flat surfaces. After building a wooden armature, she wraps it with window screens, fabric, found materials, and personal possessions. …“In my work, I try to create homages to human experience,” she said. “I see the viewer on their own journeys, having their own lives, their own struggles, triumphs. It’s a way to be self-reflective.”  Inspired by Allison Meier, Blouin Artinfo ow.ly/gSY54 Image source lawnlike ow.ly/gSY33 I try to create homages to human experience (January 24 2013)

Kate Ruggeri the 24 year old American artist, curator, and DJ has been nominated by Blouin Artinfo as an emerging artist in an article titled ‘Painter-Sculptor Kate Ruggeri Finds Heroism in Humble Materials’ by Allison Meier. Meier states “Following a fire that wrecked her studio, Chicago-based artist Kate Ruggeri is persevering by creating work that evokes hope and heroes through the unlikely materials of old clothes, buckets of house paint, and twine. …she’s been experimenting with merging her interests in painting and sculpture into dimensional forms swathed with reclaimed fabric and discarded materials, and coated with thick layers of paint. The results have a scrappy, tactile quality, but also a quiet gravity. … “Joseph Campbell’s monomyth was my main inspiration, since I was little I’ve been interested in myths, adventure stories, and biographies. I don’t think it’s very difficult to identify with a hero at moments in your own life.” …One of Ruggeri’s sculptures, appropriately called “Hero,” strides like a DIY Giacometti, a paint-stained backpack on its shoulders and a walking stick pointing forward. “In the past few months, I have seen great heroics in my friends and community,” she explained. “My roommate had been mugged and shot walking home, and survived. There were a number of tragic deaths in the Chicago community. My studio building had burned down and I had lost all of my work.” … A painter at heart, she started using sculptural constructions as canvases because she was exhausted with looking at blank, flat surfaces. After building a wooden armature, she wraps it with window screens, fabric, found materials, and personal possessions. …“In my work, I try to create homages to human experience,” she said. “I see the viewer on their own journeys, having their own lives, their own struggles, triumphs. It’s a way to be self-reflective.”

 

Inspired by Allison Meier, Blouin Artinfo ow.ly/gSY54 Image source lawnlike ow.ly/gSY33

The rule laid out for the average individual (December 4 2012) The rule laid out for the average individual (December 4 2012)

Corban Walker the 45 year old Irish Sculptor has been profiled by Blake Gopnik in an article published in The Daily Beast titled ‘Sculptor Corban Walker Explores Size And Scale’. Gopnik states “Corban Walker has something every artist needs: a critic trap, stretched taut across the ground floor of his studio in Brooklyn. A barrier of steel wires runs the width of Walker’s front room, from about chest height to the level of a tall man’s head; in a moment of distraction, this critic almost got his face egg-sliced. Walker, however, doesn’t have to worry about his own safety, because the bottom wire is set at what he calls “Corbanscale”—it barely grazes the top of his head as he passes back and forth underneath. …Walker was born with achondroplasia, the major cause of dwarfism. He is four feet tall. “The core of what I’ve been doing over the last 20 years is about this: my measure and the rule laid out for the average individual,” he says. And his art is about how that “rule” doesn’t fit him. He says that the wire piece, called “Latitude,” is possibly the most confrontational of his works about stature: “You could grate yourself [on it]—but I can’t.” But just about everything he’s made is a nod to his height, or at least to the number four, which describes it. A work in progress in his studio is a latticework cube made of plastic orange rods, designed so that there’s one natural viewpoint at Walker’s eye level and another at a more “standard” level—the confrontation of “Latitude” seeming to yield, in this piece, to conciliation.”

 

Inspired by Blake Gopnik ow.ly/fKd9N image source Facebook ow.ly/fKd98

Described as a “not-to-be-missed attraction” (September 26 2012) Described as a “not-to-be-missed attraction” (September 26 2012)

Andy Goldsworthy the 56 year old British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist who produces site-specific sculpture and land art situated in natural and urban settings has been commissioned by an Australian State government to create a sculpture that is designed to disappear into the environment over time, located in the remote Australian wilderness. Nicholas Forrest in a Blouin Artinfo article states “After a one hour hike along a track accessible only with a four wheel drive vehicle, hikers, tourists and art lovers will be confronted by a striking 12-feet-tall granite sculpture described as a “not-to-be-missed attraction” …Constructed in picturesque Conondale National Park, Goldsworthy’s sculpture, titled “Strangler Cairn,” consists of hundreds of blocks of hand-cut granite sourced from a local quarry and tightly packed into a “dry wall” system. Carved into stone at the top of the sculpture is a small dish in which a rainforest strangler fig sapling has been planted. It is the artist’s intention that over time the fig’s roots will grow to eventually cover and “strangle” the sculpture, essentially causing it to dissolve into its environment. According to the Queensland Government department that commissioned the project, “During his initial visit in 2009, Andy Goldsworthy found inspiration in a natural clearing in the rainforest of Conondale National Park where a large strangler fig had fallen.” …Noted for his sensitive response to the environment, which made him a perfect choice for working in the national park, Goldsworthy is renowned for his temporary works of art that make use of natural materials readily available in the remote locations he visits such as twigs, leaves, stones, snow, ice, reeds, and thorns.”

 

Inspired by Nicholas Forrest ow.ly/dP8Uj image source Twitter ow.ly/dP9za

No understanding what their planet is (August 31 2012) No understanding what their planet is (August 31 2012)

Jason deCaires Taylor the 38 year old British sculptor specialising in the creation of contemporary underwater sculptures which over time develop into artificial coral reefs has been profiled by Randal C. Archibold for the New York Times. In the article Archibold states “Most people head off to an art exhibit with comfortable shoes and a deep appreciation for creativity. Jason deCaires Taylor’s work requires flippers and, to really appreciate it, a depth of at least 12 feet. Mr. Taylor labors over his sculptures for weeks, five-ton concrete figures of men, women and children, many of them modeled after people in the fishing village near here where he lives and works. …he fusses over their lips and noses. Gets the hair just right. Adjusts their clothing. Then he sinks them in the sea. There, they rest in ghostly repose in the Museo Subacuático de Arte here, serving at once as a tourist attraction and as a conservation effort by drawing divers and snorkelers away from the Mesoamerican Reef, the second-largest barrier reef system in the world, and toward this somewhat macabre, artificial one. The nearly 500 statues, the first ones placed in 2009 and 60 added this year, have acquired enough coral, seaweed and algae to give them the look of zombies with a particularly nightmarish skin condition. Eventually, in six years or so, the coral will completely overtake them, leaving only suggestive shapes. “Foremost, it’s an opportunity to view this other world,” Mr. Taylor said. “We are surrounded by water, but people have no understanding what their planet is. It helps see ourselves as part of the world.”

 

Inspired by New York Times ow.ly/d7hkn image source Twitter ow.ly/d7hf6

Antony Mark David Gormley the 61 year old UK sculptor has spoken out in defense of squatters’ rights to use properties for good purpose while vacant. Gormley in an interview with Alex Needham states “Squatting is a very good way of preserving properties while at the same time putting them to good use. It’s a no-brainer that properties that are awaiting renovation or don’t have commercial tenants can be of use for creative things, and indeed to provide shelter for the homeless.” The UK government is considering draconian laws to criminalize squatting in residential properties with penalties of huge fines and imprisonment. Gormley during the 1970’s as an art student, has a six year history of squatting in a King’s Cross factory. “I have to say that the landlord of the factory was very, very positive about us being there. We had everything we needed including 25,000sq ft of work space. A lot of the artists’ space organization of the 70s was to use unused council and commercial properties for studios and they continued to do incredibly good work. I think it’s a principle that should be continued.”

 

Inspired by Alex Needham http://ow.ly/96wnA image source artobserved http://ow.ly/96x0m

Antoni Tàpies i Puig the 88 year old Catalonian Spanish painter sculptor and art theorist has died. Tàpies the best known Catalan artist emerging in the post Second World war period, had studied law before devoting his life to painting, initially influenced by Paul Klee and Joan Miró, he was instrumental in helping establish a Spanish movement connected to the Surrealist and Dadaist movements  known as ‘Dau al Set’. Tàpies established his own artistic style in line with ‘pintura matèrica’ where a mixed media of non-traditional artistic materials are included into the painted work, such as clay, waste-paper, rags, string and marble dust. Tàpies represented Spain at the Venice Biennale in 1993, and in 2003 he was awarded Spain’s foremost honour for artists, the Velazquez Prize. Tàpies painted approximately 8,000 pieces over his career, prompting Spain’s King Carlos in 2010 to award him the title of Marqués de Tàpies.

 

Inspired by Helen Stoilas http://ow.ly/8ZnnR image source canalhub http://ow.ly/8Znhv

Anselm Kiefer the 66 year old German painter and sculptor has declared in a German magazine ‘Der Spiegel’ that he wishes to purchase the Mülheim-Kärlich, a disused nuclear power plant in western Germany. Kiefer has written to the head of the utility RWE seeking permission to acquire the plant or at least the cooling towers, located along the Rhine River 10 kilometers from Koblenz. Kiefer stated in the interview, “This nuclear power station is so fantastic, wonderful. It is my Pantheon.” Although Kiefer indicated he was not yet exactly sure what he would create with the plant, he has ruled out “I would definitely not paint cows and clouds on the outside.” Kiefer although living and working in France for the past two decades, is renowned for addressing controversial issues and taboo subjects from Germany’s recent history, including themes from Nazi rule.

 

Inspired by Artinfo http://ow.ly/7rN1h image source apollosgirl http://ow.ly/7rNh0

Karla Black the 38 year old Scottish sculptor renowned for her use of everyday objects in her work has been nominated for the 2011 Turner Prize. Black’s work has been exhibited at various well placed galleries including the Tate Britain, Kunsthalle Nürnberg, and the Saatchi Gallery. Black has a Master of Arts from the Glasgow School of Art, and uses feminine objects in her work including cosmetics, toiletries, textiles and pastel colours. In an interview with Coline Milliard, Black stated “I didn’t study art at school. I left when I was 16 and got a job … I started to read a lot and go to galleries in my late teens … I had a feeling that I wanted to “do” something but I didn’t know what  … I started making sculptures and never stopped.

 

Inspired by Coline Milliard http://ow.ly/7rMHf image source facebook http://ow.ly/7rMMA

Marco Polo “Mark” di Suvero the 77 year old abastract expressionist sculptor has been requested by the Arts and Culture committee of Occupy Wall Street movement to speak out against the barricades surrounding his work, ‘Joie de Vivre’, a towering red sculpture in Zucotti Park, New York City. Di Suvero’s sculpture is the backdrop of the protest camps and has been cordoned off by police following an incident when a protestor climbed up onto the work. In the open letter drafted to di Suvero, the committee stated “We believe that cordoning off your gift to the people of New York goes against your intentions for the work, as well as the very spirit of public art.” The letter also references di Suvero’s renowned 1966 work titled ‘Peace Tower’ which became symbolic in Los Angeles for the anti-Vietnam protests.

 

Inspired by Artinfo http://ow.ly/7rM2C image source newyorksocialdiary http://ow.ly/7rM7i

This digital art work is about iconic people, places and events of our day.  Recorded visually through daily compilations of manipulated digital images, the work is posted online and disseminated via online media and social networks. The works are diaristic in nature, that metaphorically record a spectator’s experience of the contemporary digital age.  The resulting work intentionally has a painterly aesthetic acknowledging the artists historical painting practice.

www.ianbunn.com

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